Technician Hiring for Multi-Location Repair Shops
Jo Rosenberger
One hiring pipeline for every shop you run. Open jobs by location, get a prescreen summary on every applicant before you call, and let our recruiters work the pipeline while you run your shops.
Last updated: October 27, 2026
Technician hiring for multi-location shops works best when every store hires the same way. That means jobs set up by location, one screening standard, and one place to see every applicant. Promotive gives you that in the Promotive platform, with our recruiters and Paige, Promotive’s AI recruiting agent, doing the legwork. You make the hire.
Why is hiring harder when you run more than one shop?
Every store is fishing in the same small pond, and every manager fishes differently. One posts on Indeed. One waits on referrals. One has applicants nobody has called back in a week.
Meanwhile the pond isn’t getting bigger. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects about 66,200 openings a year for automotive service technicians and mechanics through 2035 (BLS). The good techs go to whoever calls first.
How does Promotive handle hiring across locations?
Jobs by location. Set up each shop once. Open, pause and close jobs by store, and see each job’s pipeline at a glance: candidates, with Promotive, ready for you, hired.
Screen or Recruit, job by job. With Screen, your jobs go live and every applicant completes a screen with Paige before they reach you. You work the qualified applicants yourself. With Recruit, we run the search: everything in Screen, plus sourcing, outreach to techs who aren’t applying, and a dedicated Account Manager who knows your shop. Mix them across jobs and locations. You see the same pipeline either way.
Recruiters who actually work your applicants. For Recruit jobs, our recruiters and sourcers text and call your applicants. Every text and call is logged in the portal, so you can see the work, not just hear about it.
A prescreen summary before you pick up the phone. Paige runs a prescreen call with applicants. You get a written summary covering availability, qualifications, years of experience, A/B/C skill level, makes, daily duties, and diagnostic and electrical skills. Same sections at every store, so every manager screens to the same standard.
One list, every shop. All applicants across all jobs in one place. Shortlist, mark maybe, track a follow-up, add notes, hire. The dashboard shows which roles have applicants waiting on you, and how long they’ve waited.
What does a hire look like?
- We talk through the role: location, A, B or C level, makes, pay plan, schedule.
- The job goes live at that location, with Promotive Screen or Recuit.
- Our recruiters and sourcers reach out to applicants by text and call for our Recruit jobs
- Paige runs the prescreen. You get the summary.
- You review and shortlist in the portal.
- You interview, verify certs and run a skills check.
- You hire.
Who is this for?
A good fit:
- Multi-shop operators hiring techs or service advisors at two or more locations
- Independent shops with 6+ bays that need a steady pipeline, not a one-off hire
- Owners who want one hiring standard at every store
Can a recruiter help you keep techs, not just hire them?
A recruiter can’t keep a tech for you. But a better match makes a quick exit less likely. The prescreen surfaces skill level, culture fit and daily duties before the interview, so the mismatches show up on the first call instead of in week three. Pay, culture and the work are still on you.
What multi-shop owners say
“…we’ve used them to place 4 technicians and 1 service writer across our three shops. … Within 2 – 4 interviews, I’ve consistently offered and hired the right person for us.” — Joe M., three shops (Google review)
“Run 3 stores in the SF Bay Area and we have used them for 3 of our technicians and one of our service advisors… By far the easiest way of hiring.” — Trevor A., 3 stores (Google review)
“…delivered the opportunity for me to interview not just more, but better candidates for my shops.” — Clay B. (Google review)
FAQs
Use one system for every location. Open jobs by store, screen every applicant to the same standard, and keep all applicants in one list. Promotive does this in the Promotive portal, with recruiters working your applicants and a prescreen summary on each one.
Pin down the role first: A, B or C level, makes, pay plan and schedule. Then decide whether you want to run hiring yourself or have someone run it for you. Promotive can do either, store by store.
Yes. The portal logs every automated message, text and call made to your applicants over the last 30 days.
No. Paige is Promotive’s AI recruiter. She runs the prescreen call and writes the summary you see. Our human recruiters and sourcers work your applicants too, and you make every hiring decision.
Ready to hire across your shops?
Book a 30-minute call with the Promotive team. We’ll tell you straight whether Promotive is a fit for your shops.
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